My current obsession is Podcasts. I travel in my car quite a lot for work and I got tired of my music, and the radio has too many commercials. I discovered podcasts and now find that I can’t get enough of them. Now, I almost never listen to music in the car, unless my family or other passengers are with me. Instead I consume a steady stream of motivational and thought provoking, one-sided conversations.
As I was driving and listening to one of my favorites it struck me that prior to having a family I consumed a lot of TV and never a podcast at all. I had thought then that TV was a one-sided conversation to passively participate in. Are Podcasts then the new TV for me? Am I, are we, now passively participating in a one sided conversation, without the visual element? Hey well you get to avoid all the commercials right? Wrong.
According to an article in Ad Week
Research Finds Branded Podcasts Are 22% Better Than TV at Engaging Consumers Who Avoid Ads.
From adweek.com article by Kelsey Sutton, October 8, 2019
Ads are more effective when listeners are performing other tasks.
Self-identified ad avoiders were 22% more engaged, emotionally involved and likely to remember brands mentioned in a podcast compared to TV ads, according to a new study from the BBC
I thought about this and I recognized that I have in the last few months looked up many of the items advertised on the podcasts I listened to, including the host(s) own products and conferences. In fact I’ve even purchased some items that were advertised on the podcasts I listen to!
Advertisers are savvy and appear to be one step ahead of us. Will this change my podcast obsession? Probably not, but I am more conscious of how I consume this new medium. Like all things being intentional about what we do seems to be the best course of action to ensure that we are controlling our own narrative.
If you want some suggestions of my favorite podcasts here are a few:
- Do It Scared, hosted by Ruth Soukup
- RISE, hosted by Rachel Hollis
- RISE TOGETHER, hosted by Rachel & Dave Hollis
- Oprah’s Super Soul Conversations, hosted by Oprah Winfrey
- Happier with Gretchen Rubin, hosted by Gretchin Rubin and her sister Elizabeth Craft
- Business Boutique, hosted by Christy Wright
- On Purpose with Jay Shetty, hosted by Jay Shetty
- UnF*ck Your Brain, hosted by Kara Loewentheil
I listen to my podcasts through iTunes, but you can find them on their respective websites as well as other podcast platforms.
Enjoy — but watch out for those ads!